Women lifting other women in the Republic of Moldova

Iuliana Drăgălin became an ILO certified “Start and Improve Your Business” trainer in 2023. Since then, she has opened the door to the business world for many new entrepreneurs, most of them women.

Iuliana is a middle-aged woman from Chisinau, capital of the Republic of Moldova.  She has always had a passion for business management. As an adolescent, she relied on her parents to guide her career choice, like many young Moldovans at the time. Lawyers were in fashion then, so her parents’ decision led her towards legal studies. But that path did not match either her talents or her impulses.    

“I didn’t choose my profession — it chose me,” Iuliana explains with a contagious smile. “The day I went to submit my application for the Law Faculty, I got lost in the large State University and accidentally wandered into a room where business management was being promoted. It grabbed me — I stayed all day, and by late afternoon, I  changed my application. Since then, I have never strayed from my passion — whether at the university in Chisinau, in master’s courses abroad, or later in my PhD programme,” recalls Iuliana.  

Her enthusiasm  for business administration inspires the young students she teaches at the university. She never gave up teaching, even while serving as state secretary of economy from 2017 to 2021. “Nothing inspires more than working with youth,” Iuliana believes. 

However, Iuliana’s passion took a slight turn when in 2023, she came across an ILO project which brought the flagship "Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB)" programme to Moldova. Through the Association of Women Entrepreneurship in Moldova (AFAM), the ILO was helping existing and aspiring entrepreneurs to stand on their own feet and progress. Iuliana took the course, became a certified trainer and since then her ambition has been  to make a real difference in people’s lives. Since then, she has trained over 100 people to start or grow their businesses — 90 per cent women, with two-thirds launching ventures in Information Technology (IT), woodworking,  hospitality, and childcare. 

“Women in business are known to drive innovation, create jobs, develop new products and services. In Moldova, however, they make up only a third of entrepreneurs, and fewer than one in ten companies operating in foreign markets are led by women,” she says. “Women need support as they face multiple barriers — from limited access to finance and business development services, especially in rural areas, to weak networks, restrictive cultural norms, lack of role models, and low risk taken. This limits their economic empowerment and freedom. I feel fulfilled training women, boosting their self-esteem and self-reliance.”

What Iuliana values about the ILO SIYB methodology is how it adapts to any level — whether generating business ideas, crafting a business plan, defending it, or growing the business overall. “It has been piloted with youth, adults, it was applied during school entrepreneurship marathons, and for home-based care services,” explains Iuliana. 

SIYB trainers don't need to be entrepreneurs, as in the case of Iuliana, but they must possess strong communication skills, a deep understanding of the SIYB methodology, and the ability to provide follow-up advisory and counselling services to entrepreneurs. 

No matter how many people Iuliana has trained as a SIYB trainer, her first training goup remains memorable for her.  

“Anna Kasatkina, a Ukrainian refugee, was among the first trainees,” recalls Iuliana. “She used to work with wood in Ukraine and wanted to continue in Moldova. She formulated a business idea that didn’t sit right with me at first. I questioned its feasibility, and it took effort to get her change her focus. Together, we weighed the pros and cons and finally settled on something that sounded unusual at first — wood crochet. These are carved wooden patterns that imitate crochet work.  It was the first of its kind in Moldova. Today, Anna replicates what she learned and earns a solid income.”  

Mariana Grigorenco was another remarkable student, but with a completely different mindset. She did not have a  business idea --still, somehow she knew she had what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Introduced to the Know About Business (KAB) -  a complementary module to the SIYB programme - she tested various ideas, but had doubts about most of them. With Iuliana’s vision and guidance, she gradually found her path. With ILO support, Mariana launched a family-type daycare at home in Balti, Moldova’s second-largest city. Her business quickly became popular, and she now plans to open a larger daycare center. 

Watching Iuliana in the classroom, it’s clear that teaching transforms her and fuels her energy.   Passing the torch, opening paths for women in business, and guiding them to better lives is transforming not only her, but also the lives of those who have her as a teacher and mentor.